Tag: Political Drama

riter David Mamet – with Barry Levinson directing – switches his focus from the small cons of “House of Games” and the like to the global con of “Wag the Dog” (1997), a delightful and sometimes hilariously absurd examination of the cover-up of a presidential scandal. It’s also harrowing enough now and then to be more than a straight-up comedy. Savvy followers of the news cycle know the adage: If a huge story breaks, look at what the previous big story was and ask if the new one has been manufactured as a distraction.

fter five seasons, “House of Cards” (Netflix) had started to stumble a bit. What had started off as a sleazy, dark-room, behind-the-scenes political thriller had become a boring relationship-centered drama. Then, with Kevin Spacey being banished from Hollywood, the writers of the show clearly had to scramble and change up their plans for Season 6. And it fails.

his blog series chronicles my first viewing of the complete MCU movie saga. I’ll examine each film under various categories that reflect popular discussion points. Next up is the ninth film, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014):

ne of my bosses encouraged us to attend “The Post” (2017) – which recently got a wide theatrical release – to rekindle our passion for newspapering. The film encourages some of that spirit, no doubt, but overall it left me sad. It’s a great movie about the Washington Post’s decision to publish highlights of the Top Secret Pentagon Papers in 1971, very much a welcome addition to the pantheon of journalism movies, but Steven Spielberg’s entry feels curiously out of time more so than, say, 2015’s “Spotlight.”

ABC’s “Designated Survivor” strained throughout its first season to show that President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) is a good, decent and refreshingly different type of president. But because the show operates on a superficial level, it’s easy to expose the trick. Yes, he’s unquestionably – and boringly – a great guy; he loves his family, he treats everyone decently, he listens and learns, and so forth. But just as clearly, he’s as bad of a president as Bush, Obama and Trump.

After establishing itself as TV’s elite adrenaline rush in the epic Season 2, “24” Season 3 (2003-04, Fox; now streaming on Amazon Prime) gets introspective and examines how family and romantic relationships can suffer under the weight of a job where you must put the safety of thousands of Americans above that of a loved one (or conversely, your work can suffer because of the distraction). Simultaneously, Season 3 marks the first time when I can see how easily “24” could slip into parody. This is the conclusion of a trilogy of great “24” seasons, and the show will never again be as consistently good.

Now would be a good time to rewatch “24” Season 2 (2002-03, Fox; now streaming on Amazon Prime). Centered on a terrorist nuclear bomb in Los Angeles and the buildup to war in the aftermath of its explosion (in the unpopulated desert, thanks to Jack Bauer, natch), this season is obviously a commentary on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which began in March 2003, coinciding with the intense push-for-war episodes.

With “24: Legacy” premiering earlier this year, I have a perfect excuse to rewatch “24” Season 1 (2001-02, Fox; now streaming on Amazon Prime). Even without “Legacy,” this seems like a good time to get nostalgic about a show that was presciently conceived before the Twin Towers fell and went on to become the definitive post-9/11 drama.

It’s easy to forget how groundbreaking “24” was when it premiered in November 2001 in the wake of 9/11. I need to rewatch that first season (I see that Amazon Prime has it) to get back in the headspace of its turn-of-the-century ingenuity. Although the terrorist-themed plots were fairly fresh for a TV drama, the real-time aspect is what really hooked me. I enjoyed seeing if the writers could stay true to that premise.

Whether Trump or Clinton wins the election tonight, the NSA’s spying program will continue, so it seems like a good time to watch “Snowden,” the most hyped-up liberty-themed film of the year. Oliver Stone’s chronicle of the CIA agent who revealed that our government is spying on us is unquestionably an important document, but it doesn’t offer many surprises for people who followed this story in even cursory fashion as it played out in the news.